The Truth of Roses
by amethyst noir
Summary: Sequel to Amazing Grace. While Relena adjusts to her new life with the Rebel army, Heero discovers a leak in their security causing suspicions to arise and lost acquaintances to catch up with them.


**A/N:** Here it is! The sequel to _Amazing Grace_! I'm so excited for this story! _The Truth of Roses _is being partially co-written with my good friend Jonathan--although he has yet to create an actual account on this site, but I'm working on that ;)--and I hope to do _Amazing Grace_ justice! I wrote that story a couple years ago and though my writing _should _have improved I have a feeling it might not be as wonderful as when I first started working on _Amazing Grace_. But alas that is what Jon is for, lol. I hope you enjoy this story, regardless if it's as good as _Amazing Grace._ Alright, enough of me rambling :) Happy reading! (by the way Jon says 'hi') ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately I do not own Gundam Wing. But I do own my OC's --namely Charles.

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**The Truth of Roses**

**Preface:**

The 'Battle of Alna' was indeed a victory for the Rebels, though the Alliance and OZ were still fighting to take back the victory previously thought to be theirs. They were not fairing well in that endeavor however.

One month since the battle Heero's troops had rebuilt and the camp, although still not as sanitary as Relena preferred, had been pulled back together to it's previous state.

The rows of white tents had been pitched and Hilde's stone house had gone through the necessary repairs. Soldiers roamed casually through the camp, no one suspecting attack, considering the slaughter of the enemy that had taken place no more than a few weeks before.

The Rebel troops had grown accustomed to having another woman around the camp, not daring protest for fear of Heero's wrath. After her first eventful days at the camp Relena had overcome her thin-skinned attitude and taken over most of the medical tent acting as head nurse.

Fleeting as it was Relena enjoyed the feeling of superiority when tending to the weakened soldiers, even Heero noticed that. She felt needed here with the Rebels, unlike before when she'd been cast aside by Charles and the other men as just another house wife.

It was on this particular morning though that she felt extremely overjoyed with herself. It had been exactly one month since her escapades and mistaken identity as a spy. One month and no one had asked her to leave and be on her way. Finally she felt at home.

Pouring cool water from a pitcher into her blue porcelain wash basin, Relena went about washing her face and ridding it of the night's imperfections. She then tied a tawny piece of ribbon in her golden hair, holding half of it back from her face, but allowing some to hang loose past her shoulders. Donning a simpler dress than the one's Heero had purchased for her, she made her way across the camp towards Hilde's cottage. They had become fast friends as of late.

She rapped three times on the knotty wooden door before allowing herself to enter. She did not see her friend at first and started to walk past the entryway. "Hilde?" she called quietly, more to herself than the German girl.

Slowly she moved through the small house. The kitchen and small living area were both empty. That only left the cellar and bedroom. Silently, as to not disturb her friend if she happened to still be asleep Relena made her way closer to the bedroom door frame. It was curtained by a simple patchwork quilt.

As she sidled closer Relena could make out faint breathing, but also, she wasn't sure, but there was another sound coming from the bedroom. She neared the quilted entry and her eyes grew slightly wider. She not only heard, what seemed to be two sets of breathing, but something that, to her knowledge sounded like....kissing!

Relena was now standing directly beside the doorway, the only thing blocking her view being the flowery quilt. She couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her lips as she peered beneath the hem that danced above the wooden floor. There were two sets of feet on the other side of the curtain.

Upon hearing the intruder the quilt was swiftly pushed aside to reveal a pair of crimson faces. Relena gazed upon Hilde and Duo with amused eyes but stifled her giggles as to not be impolite.

Duo stared at her, his blush reaching the tips of his ears. Relena had always thought that he had been sweet on _her_, but now she knew otherwise. "Excuse me," she greeted them with a soft smile.

Hilde twittered at Duo's face, although her cheeks were just as pink. "Relena," she said turning to her friend with a smile, "What are you doing here?"

"I-I came to see if you had any extra sewing thread Hilde," she replied, still amusedly shocked by the current situation.

Duo cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I should go." He pecked Hilde on the cheek and proceeded to leave, but turned at the last second and gave Relena an imploring look.

"Please Miss Relena, don't tell Heero," he told her. She smiled and nodded, "Of course not Duo."

He looked from Relena to Hilde and back to Relena again worriedly but quickly pivoted on his heel and left through the front door which had been left cracked open by the previous person whom had entered.

As soon as the girls were sure he had left they collapsed to the floor in a fit of giggles.

------

Major Quatre Winner stared annoyedly at the bandage on his arm and the makeshift sling supporting it. He'd been rid of any real pain from his bullet wound for at least a week and saw no need for the awkward sling. It made his chores around the camp so much more difficult.

"Miss Noin, is this wretched thing really necessary anymore?" he asked, raising his injured arm slightly but grimaced as he did so.

The overly cautious lieutenant general turned to the blond young man and instantly noticed the pained look on his face. "Clearly it is. You can't even move your arm without wincing." She smiled at him when he huffed a sigh of contempt.

"It's just a scratch," he muttered to her as she fixed a few yellowing papers at her desk.

"That's exactly what Captain Barton said about his injuries," Lucrezia Noin explained, with a reminiscent humor in her tone, "And look at him, he just recently got off of bed rest and his back is full of bandages and scars."

Quatre nodded, thinking about the extent of his friend's wounds and deciding himself lucky. He and Wufei had gotten off easy, both being shot in the arm, missing any major arteries.

"Quatre? Will you kindly deliver this message to Heero? It's from General Treize himself," Noin instructed, handing him a cream colored envelope with Heero Yuy's name scrawled across the front in ornate cursive. He nodded and waved a casual solute to the lieutenant general and exited her tent, forgetting his own woes for the moment.

_From General Treize himself,_ he mused, _Must be important._

------

A weary looking chess board sat between the two young generals, both deep in concentration. The mahogany and pine squares were scratched and worn from years of use and the pieces not quite as polished as when first purchased.

Wufei moved his knight diagonally with his good hand--the other still in a sling, much like Quatre's. Heero raised an eyebrow at the move and silently contemplated his options. The game was interrupted however by a rush of morning sunlight entering the tent through the now opened fabric doorway.

Quatre stood before them, an unspoken apology appearing on his face. "I have a letter from General Treize for you Heero, sir."

"Thank you," Heero said, slightly bemused by the thought of a message directly from Treize. Quatre handed him the envelope and stood next to Wufei quietly observing their game of chess.

"How's your arm Quatre?" Wufei asked with a slight smile.

"Fine, and yours?" he asked nodding to Wufei's identically bandaged limb.

"Ready to get out of this sling," he replied gruffly, adjusting the rough fabric around his neck. Quatre nodded and grinned as well.

Both man's attention, however, was soon drawn to Heero, who now sat behind his desk, silver letter opener still in his hand, reading the letter with great interest. His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes scanned deeper into the correspondence from Treize.

_It can't be,_ Heero thought as he proceeded to re-read the message. General Treize has said there was a leak of their location at the base a couple hundred miles from the Oslo camp.

The Alliance had a spy. A spy planted right under their noses.


End file.
